Pollachi Foresters Rescue Baby Elephant, Mother Raises Her Trunk To 'Thank' — Video Goes Viral

A heartening video shared on 'X' today prompted a positive discussion on human-animal interactions as it depicted the rescue of a baby elephant by forest officials in Pollachi.

In recent weeks, elephants from the Western Ghats have sparked concern as they wandered into Kerala towns, resulting in the deaths of two individuals. This has ignited a debate on social media regarding the complexities surrounding human-animal conflicts. However, a heartening video shared on 'X' today prompted a positive discussion as it depicted the rescue of a baby elephant by forest officials in Pollachi.

Additional Chief Secretary, Environment, Climate Change, and Forests, Tamil Nadu government Supriya Sahu, had posted on her X handle a series of video clips, which documented the rescue operation of the team led by IFS officer Ramasubramanian, field director of Anamalai Tiger Reserve.

"Our hearts are melting with joy to see the elephant mother raising her trunk to thank our foresters afterka they rescued and united a very young baby elephant with the mother. The baby had slipped and fallen into a canal in Pollachi in Coimbatore district in Tamil Nadu. The mother tried hard to rescue the baby but the young one was unable to come out due to strong water flow. Kudos to the team for their exceptional efforts which led to the successful reunion even though the operation was fraught with risks…," Sahu expressed in her post.

She continued by praising every member of the operation's team.

"Fabulous work by FD Ramasubramanian, DD B Teja, Pugalenthi FRO, Thilakar forester, Saravanan forest guard, Vellingiri forest guard, Murali, forest watcher, Balu APW, Nagaraj APW, Mahesh APW & Chinnathan forest guard," she wrote on her social media 'X.'

Within an hour of the post, the videos garnered over 10,000 views, with many expressing appreciation for the heartwarming news. At the time of reporting, the post had amassed 38,000 views.

Speaking to news agency PTI over the phone, Sahu underscored the dangers faced by foresters in such rescue operations, emphasising the challenging nature of their profession. "It may look easy. But do you know that we lost a man in a similar rescue operation not so long ago? The life of a forester is very challenging," Sahu said.

According to Ramasubramanian, three years ago, not only had they failed to save the infant elephant, but the forester who had sprung into action to save it had also drowned. "The canal, which runs 48km along the border of Anamalai Tiger Reserve, connecting to Thirumurthy dam, is quite treacherous because there is a stretch of tunnel that spans almost 20km. When animals fall in, and if we do not rescue them before they enter the tunnel, they invariably die," added Ramasubramanian.

He claimed that when the mother elephant called for help last evening, forest rangers on patrol in the area heard it and went to investigate.

"It was a very risky operation because initially, the mother elephant was guarding the baby. In such instances, if we interfere, they usually charge at us. But when it realised that we were only trying to help, the mother elephant thankfully stepped back and watched our rescue from a distance. Time was of the essence yesterday and even a slight delay could have changed the outcome," Ramasubramanian also said.

According to Sahu, the squad has "some amount of expertise" and this is the fifth rescue by the Tamil Nadu Forest Department in the previous two years. "We are also focusing a lot on rewilding. The easiest thing to do is to get such rescued babies to elephant camps, but we try to reunite them with their mothers as much as possible. In the long run, that would be the best course of action," Sahu stated.

No Solutions For Human-Animal Conflicts Until We Work As Team: Supriya Sahu

Sahu also raised concerns about human-animal conflicts and warned that no solution can be fruitful if it is not solved by working as a team.

"It is not just about foresters doing their work. The Collector must be fully involved; the superintendent of the police must be in the loop. The political will should be there too," stated the IAS officer, who has led numerous coordinated initiatives by the Tamil Nadu Forest Department.

Sahu noted that every operation is different and has its own set of difficulties, but generally speaking, the impact of human-animal conflicts can be reduced if the team takes a seat and considers the wider picture.

"For instance, one must ensure there is an experienced doctor around while tranquilising. Translocation can be a good solution, but it is very important that the team chooses the location carefully, after all, elephants are free-ranging animals and walk 30 to 40 km a day and can stray into other towns too – like in the case of Ari Komban," Sahu also added.

Sahu thinks the secret is to work with the local population and earn their trust. "A good, alert mechanism, ensuring no loss of life and timely ex-gratia in case of any unfortunate incident goes a long way in building the trust of the people who are directly affected by the human-animal conflicts. And yes, the media plays an important role too – how they cover and what they focus on often makes a difference in creating awareness about the issue," she stated further.